Trump’s tweet came after days of controversy which he started on Friday after criticizing NFL players who knelt during the national anthem. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his claim that the players’ protests depressed the NFL’s television ratings:

Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!

Trump also commented on a Monday night football game where players knelt before the national anthem. When the Dallas Cowboys knelt before the national anthem, Trump said, they provoked “great anger” and the “loudest” booing he’s “Ever heard”:

Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!

On Monday, the White House defended Trump’s previous comments in which he used the term “son of a b***h” to describe players who protest during the anthem.

“I think that it’s always appropriate for the president of the United States to defend our flag, to defend the national anthem, and to defend the men and women who fought and died to defend it,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.